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22 Terrorism and Governance in South Africa and Eastern Africa 22 Terrorism and governance in South Africa and Eastern Africa Chris Oxtoby and C. H. Powell 1. Introduction Because of its sheer scale, terrorism is seen as the kind of crime which states should prevent rather than prosecute. Many therefore accord the state special leeway against it. Anti-terrorism legislation accordingly cur- tails individual rights, allowing action against terrorist suspects before their guilt is proven. It may also relax the requirements for proving guilt if the suspect gets to court. Proponents of this view argue that any harsh treatment which may result is the price which society has to pay to protect the general public. H e r e w e f nd a paradox of the anti-terrorism debate, because a second argument sees, in this same legislation, protection for the terrorist sus- pects . T is argument accepts that additional powers, beyond those in ordinary criminal and procedural law, may be needed in order to com- bat terrorism. However, it then demands that the government articulate exactly when these powers will arise and what their extent will be. Under such an argument, legislation must def ne clearly what terrorism is and establish the limits of executive action against it. In this way, the govern- ment will be constrained by the anti-terrorism legislation, rather than acting extra-legally, and its exercise of power will be subject to review. In this chapter, we explore this debate in the context of the anti- terrorism programme of four African states: South Africa and the East T e authors would like to thank Anton du Plessis, Annette Hübschle, Livingstone Sewanyana, Caroline Adoch, Laibuta Mugambi, Gertrude Wamala and Paddy Clark for providing information on developments in East Africa; Joshua Mendelsohn for pro- viding hard-to-f nd South African cases; Dilshaad Brey and the staf at the Government Publications section of the University of Cape Town library for their assistance in locat- ing Ugandan and Kenyan government documents; and the participants in the August 2010 Anti-Terrorism Symposium in Sydney, in particular T eunis Roux, for their comments on earlier draf s. 573 .47879CBD 64C7:8 C:6C8 38CDJ92DD80C4CJ/4D8684C7:8C8 8CD9D844484BD 64C7:8 C:6C88CD BD7 C: ,1 574 Chris Oxtoby and C. H. Powell African countries of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. We ask whether anti- terrorism legislation is, indeed, necessary for the ef ective prevention and prosecution of terrorism, referring to examples of anti-terrorism action taken in the absence of anti-terrorism laws ( Kenya) or within the apparent framework of ordinary criminal procedure when an alternative anti-ter- rorism framework is available ( South Africa). We also investigate whether anti-terrorism legislation protects the rights of suspects. Comparing the human rights protection of systems with and without anti-terrorism legis- lation, we identify a gap between the legislation and the situation on the ground. T is gap suggests that the legislation in itself may play a negligible role in countering terrorism and is inadequate to protect human rights. Anti-terrorism legislation could, however, be ef ective at both attempts if it is accompanied by respect for the rule of law. 2. Background to the anti-terrorism legislation of South Africa and Eastern Africa T e 2005 version of this chapter considered the international anti- terrorism regime in some detail, as well as the anti-terrorism legislative framework in South Africa, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. T e international context is now dealt with elsewhere in this edition. 1 We will deal only brief y with the content of the legislation in the surveyed states, highlighting changes and aspects relevant to the thematic discussion to follow. 2 To discuss how the legislation has been implemented, we analyse anti-terrorism practice in the surveyed states in terms of various themes, namely: the geograph- ical location and signif cance of the states in the context of the global ‘war on terror’; the internal legitimacy of anti-terrorism laws; human rights concerns, particularly the suppression of political opposition, the con- duct of security forces and renditions of terrorism suspects; and, f nally, court decisions dealing with the anti-terrorism laws. T e four countries surveyed in this chapter share a legal heritage, having adopted, albeit to slightly dif erent extents, the common law tradition. As this chapter demonstrates, however, the legal responses to contemporary terrorism are in some ways markedly dif erent. In 2005, both Uganda and Tanzania had anti-terrorism legislation in force, but Kenya’s Suppression of Terrorism Bill of 2003 had encountered considerable opposition from 1 See C. H. Powell, Chapter 2 , this volume. 2 A more detailed discussion of the content of the legislation may be found in this chapter in the f rst edition of this volume. .47879CBD 64C7:8 C:6C8 38CDJ92DD80C4CJ/4D8684C7:8C8 8CD9D844484BD 64C7:8 C:6C88CD BD7 C: ,1 Terrorism and governance in South and East Africa 575 politicians and civil society, and had not been passed.3 South Africa’s anti- terrorism legislation came into force in 2005. 4 I t h a d a l o n g a n d d i f cult birth, taking eight years to come into law. It was criticised from two per- spectives: one on the basis of principles of constitutionalism and human rights, the other based on fears of victimisation, similar to those raised in East Africa, with criticisms coming particularly from the Muslim com- munity and from trade unions.5 T e status of the legislation remains largely unchanged. T e South African Act has not been amended. Kenya continues to lack specialist anti-terrorism legislation. In May 2006, the Kenyan government draf ed a further suppression of terrorism bill, but did not submit it to Parliament,6 and it is thought to be unlikely that legislation will be reintroduced in the near future. 7 T e Kenyan position will thus be discussed with refer- ence to the 2003 Bill. Ef orts are underway to update the Tanzanian Act,8 but at the time of writing it remains unchanged. No amendments to the Ugandan legislation have been tabled, 9 although provisions on surveil- lance have been supplemented by other legislation. 10 3. T e anti-terrorism regimes of South Africa and Eastern Africa T is section analyses the anti-terrorism legislation of South Africa and the East African states under two themes. T e f rst examines legislative provisions which empower the state to prevent acts of terrorism. T e second deals with provisions governing the trial of those charged with terrorism-related of ences. An additional section discusses possible chal- lenges to the constitutionality of the South African legislation, drawing 3 C. H. Powell, ‘Terrorism and governance in South Africa and Eastern Africa’, in Victor V. Ramraj, Michael Hor and Kent Roach (eds.), Global Anti-Terrorism Law and Policy (Cambridge University Press, 2005), p. 566. 4 T e Protection of Constitutional Democracy against Terrorist and Related Activities Act 33 of 2004. T e Act was passed by the National Assembly on 12 November 2004, assented to by the President on 4 February 2005 and became law on 20 May 2005. 5 Powell, ‘Terrorism and governance in South Africa and Eastern Africa’, pp. 566–7. 6 Authors’ survey of bills presented to Parliament on www.kenyalaw.org ; U S D e p a r t m e n t of State, Country Reports on Terrorism , Chapter 2 – Country Reports: Africa Overview (2006), available at www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/ . T e Kenyan government seemed to lack the political capital to pass such a controversial measure. 7 Anton du Plessis, Institute for Security Studies, Correspondence with the authors, 20 September 2010. 8 Du Plessis, Correspondence with authors, 20 September 2010. 9 Authors’ search of Ugandan Government Gazettes. 10 T e Regulation of Interception of Communications Act was passed in September 2010. .47879CBD 64C7:8 C:6C8 38CDJ92DD80C4CJ/4D8684C7:8C8 8CD9D844484BD 64C7:8 C:6C88CD BD7 C: ,1 576 Chris Oxtoby and C. H. Powell on comparisons with South Africa’s anti-organised crime legislation. For ease of reference, the legislation of the three East African states is dis- cussed together. A. South Africa’s anti-terrorism legislation i. Prevention T e South African anti-terrorism act links the investigation and preven- tion of terrorism with South Africa’s anti-organised crime legislation, extending the ambit of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA) to include terrorism. POCA thereby provides for the civil forfeiture of prop- erty ‘associated with terrorist or related activities’. Property which was ‘acquired, collected, used, possessed, owned or provided for the benef t of, or on behalf of, or at the direction of, or under the control of an entity which commits or attempts to commit or facilitates the commission’ of the crimes in the anti-terrorism act may be forfeited. It is not necessary to institute a criminal prosecution against any person involved in such an ‘entity’, but the civil forfeiture requires a court order.11 Section 22 of the anti-terrorism act activates Chapter 5 of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Act, 12 which gives investigating of cers in terrorism cases the same powers as of cers investigating organised crime. T e Investigating Director of the Directorate of Special Operations (the DSO) 13 was empowered to conduct a particular investigation and assign of cers to it. 14 S u c h o f cers were given expanded powers of search and seizure. While required to obtain a court order to search a suspect’s property, of cers are not required to specify the particular articles they hope to f nd. 15 One change came in 2008, when the DSO was controversially dis- banded, a move attributed to the unit’s investigation and prosecution of several senior political f gures.
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